FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some frequently asked questions about the main conference. The answers below do not apply to the workshops, student research workshop, and other co-located events.

My paper was accepted for poster presentation. What does it mean?

All accepted submissions have the same status of full papers (either short or long) for inclusion in the proceedings. However, as we do not have enough oral presentation slots for all full papers, we decided to divide them into two different presentation modes (oral/poster). To decide on the presentation mode, we roughly selected the 20 highest-scoring long papers for oral presentation, whereas the rest of accepted long papers along with all accepted short papers were selected for poster presentation. Additionally, we made some adjustments to avoid redundancy and maximize broadcast interest. These criteria helped us to decide on the presentation mode, but they are arbitrary, e.g. numerical scores do not necessarily reflect the contribution of the paper. Hence, a poster presentation should not be regarded as different in quality from an oral presentation, as it is also assumed in other related conferences.

What are the instructions for poster/oral presentations?

Poster presentations: Posters should be A0 portrait or smaller — in particular, attendees should keep them less than 1 meter in width. All posters should be in English. Some stands will be available for hanging posters, so please ensure that your poster has a thread cord on the back. In addition, we’d also like to encourage attendees, when possible, to print on simple paper or light fabric as in some cases posters will be on walls, and heavy laminate-type posters may be more difficult to use then. Poster presenters should hang their posters in the specified locations during the (coffee or lunch) break preceding their poster session. Posters should be removed after the session, or by the end of the day.

Oral presentations: Oral presentations slots have 25min: 18min for presentation, 5min for questions/discussion with the audience, and 2min to change presenters. All presentations and questions/discussion should be in English. The session chairs will manage the timing and warn the presenters about the remaining time. A computer and projector will be available, presenters should prepare their slides in English in PDF format. Presenters must present themselves to the session chairs and load their slides on the computer during the break that precedes the session in which they present.

How was the submission and reviewing process? How did you decide which papers are accepted?

This year, we received 92 submissions of long/short papers. Three of them were rejected without review: a double submission and two off-topic papers. The remaining 89 papers were all reviewed by 3 expert reviewers from the Program Committee. The submissions were then ranked using the average of the three recommendation scores, and a provisional list was drawn up. Given the available presentation slots, it was established that around 50% of papers would be accepted. Two types of borderline papers were identified, that should be reviewed by the Program Chairs:

Those with scores close to the acceptance/rejection border

Those whose scores had strong disagreement among reviewers

According to these two criteria, a list of borderline papers was drawn up containing 35 papers. They were divided into 4 groups, one for each Program Chair. The 4 Program Chairs reviewed again the papers, by taking into account the original reviewers’ views. Next, all borderline papers were accepted or rejected on the basis of the final decision of each Program Chair. At the end of the process, 47 papers were accepted, yielding an acceptance rate of 51%.

Do all co-authors need to register for the paper to be published/presented?

No. We require that each long and short paper that is (a) published in the proceedings and (b) presented at the conference corresponds to 1 full registration paid by one of the authors.

If an author has more than one paper, is it possible to register only once for two or more papers?

No. Each paper must correspond to a full registration in order to be published/presented. Contact the general chairs (propor2018contact [AT] gmail.com) if this is not possible for you (e.g. a single author of two or more paper, or all authors are students).

What if none of the co-authors can attend the conference?

You have two options. You can withdraw the paper so that it is not presented nor published (but that would be a pity), or you can keep your paper in the proceedings and ask a colleague to present it for you. In that case, we still require one full registration by one of the authors, even if she/he is not attending the conference.

How long can be the final (camera-ready) version of my paper?

There has been some contradicting information in the emails sent to the authors. These are the official page limits:

Full papers: up to 9 pages of content plus 2 for references

Short papers: up to 5 pages of content plus 1 for references

Please, ensure that you follow the guidelines and page limits, take into account the reviewers’ suggestions, and do not forget to submit the source files and copyright form.

Can I present my paper/poster in Portuguese?

No. The official language of PROPOR is English, so, all slides, posters and presentations must be in English.

Are the chairs, their colleagues and students allowed to submit papers? How will they deal with conflicts of interest?

The general and area chairs are allowed to submit papers to the conference, as well as any person having a conflict of interest with one of the chairs (students, colleagues in the same institution, former colleagues, etc.) Given that we are in a small community, we feel that it would be a pity to prevent these people from submitting. The general and area chairs, however, will strictly ensure that the full reviewing process of a submission for which there is a conflict of interest (reviewer assignment, decision-making, etc.) is handled by one of the other chairs. For instance, if a student of an area chair X submits a paper, then another chair Y will handle the reviewing process, regardless of the topics of this paper, and area chair X is not allowed to hear or say anything during discussions concerning their student’s submission.